Capital Audiofest 2016: Odyssey sets sails, murder and mayhem follow

At CAF this year, audio veteran Klaus of Odyssey Audio made yet another extremely convincing case for not spending your kids’ college fund on a hi-fi.

I’ll just say it — this is getting a little embarrassing.

The most expensive thing in the room — by far — was Klaus’ personal turntable, an Avenger from VPI. And it wasn’t for sale. And that everything else in the room that was for sale, all told, cost less than the turntable. What the entire f***.

Perhaps most damning of all? The room killed. Again. Just wow.

Maybe it was due to the room acoustic treatments from GIK Acoustics — shown here in a shockingly rare exhibition of what ought to be an audio show norm.

Maybe it was due to the Kismet loudspeakers ($4,200/pair), set up in near near-field. No toe in. Just close.

Maybe it was the tubed Candela preamplifier ($1,600), adding just a hint of tube love to the cast of characters.

Maybe it was the trick monos. Here, the Khartago amps had been given “just enough”, and they were being priced at $1,995/pair.

Dunno. Stopping there, though, would have cost you $6,900 as a show special. If you were so inclined, you could add the new Suspiro phono preamplifier ($1,250) in order to go digging just a bit farther into the grooves spinning on the VPI. But there really didn’t seem to be any way to really over spend in this room — every dime potentially spent seemed poised for huge dividends.

Seriously — what is not to like? Nothing. Not a damn thing. This room was awesome. No complaints — bass was full, but not overwhelming, treble was clear and integrated and extended, detail was “just so” without being distracting, and there was plenty of power behind the attack. Imaging was fan-f***ing-tastic.

Hey — last note — Klaus is apparently ramped up on his audio rack production (notice the sign he’s not-so-subtly waving at me). Everything is priced a la carte, so if you have an interest, trust that his pricing on audio gear will be the same super-affordable model he’s going to use there, too.